Life in the end-Permian dead zone

The fossil record of land plants is an obvious source of information on the dynamics of mass extinctions in the geological past. In conjunction with t he end-Permian ecological crisis, approximate to 250 million years ago, pal ynological data from East Greenland reveal some unanticipated patterns. We document the significant time lag between terrestrial ecosystem collapse an d selective extinction among characteristic Late Permian plants. Furthermor e, ecological crisis resulted in an initial increase in plant diversity, in stead of a decrease. Paradoxically, these floral patterns correspond to a " dead zone" in the end-Permian faunal record, characterized by a paucity of marine invertebrate megafossils, The time-delayed, end-Permian plant extinc tions resemble modeled "extinction debt" responses of multispecies metapopu lations to progressive habitat destruction.